medieval knights

A knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior
class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European
languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent (eg
French chevalier and German Ritter) suggesting a connection to the
knight's mode of transport. Since antiquity a position of honour
and prestige has been held by mounted warriors such as the Greek
hippeus and the Roman eques, and knighthood in the Middle Ages was
inextricably linked with horsemanship.